A survey of industrialised nations by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) in November 2015 revealed that of all prosperous countries, England has the highest tuition fees in the world, topping the United States and Japan, and several other countries for the first time.
The report found that the average student in England paid over £6,000 following the decision by the then coalition government to triple to the maximum cap that universities could charge. The previous report, released in 2014, looked at figures from before the tuition fee cap rise. At that time, the UK overall was in fifth place.
In second place was the US with a converted average of £5,300 and third was Japan with an average of £3,300. It must be noted that the US has a large number of private universities which traditionally have much higher fees that could have skewed the figures had they been included in the report).
The True Cost of Cuts
Of particular concern is that despite the higher cost of education in England, graduates who work in the public sector receive lower pay and benefits compared to their counterparts in other countries. This is particularly true of teaching where wages are lower and classroom sizes higher. Starting salaries for NQTs (newly qualified teachers) in England and Scotland are amongst the lowest in the entire OECD block.
Morale for teachers throughout the UK has been lower than ever before and wages are being cut to the bone. It has also been revealed that teachers have less and less time for extra-curricular activities, particularly in primary schools. Countries in the far east faired better, though with larger classroom sizes, it worked to the benefit of the teachers that they could arrange activities outside of a formal classroom environment.
The OECD report also noted that the student support network associated with higher education, particularly available financial bursaries, was higher than most other countries – perhaps adding some justification to the higher fees. It is unlikely to be enough for protestors concerned about people from lower income families being priced out of university education though.
Eight Countries without Tuition Fees
There are growing concerns that though students from poorer backgrounds have not yet been priced out of education, that this will have a long-lasting effect on aspirations of social mobility. It has already affected the number of mature and part-time students wishing to go to university.
In the same report, eight countries were identified as charging no tuition fees for tertiary education. In Scandinavia, this includes Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland, with the list of eight completing with Poland, Slovenia and Mexico. These are countries with a strong education policy.
Education ministers and critics of tuition fees in England are still analysing the data.